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He used to be one of Irish rock's pre-eminent hedonists, a man rarely seen without pint in hand. Now Republic Of Loose's Mick Pryo has ditched the booze and embraced eastern spirituality. With a new album on the way he talks about his conscious decision to tone down the group's commercial overtones, the importance of good karma and, er, being banned from South African radio for promoting anal sex

Imagine the scene: It’s 3.50am, Chamillionaire’s track has just finished playing at an underground sweaty club. The house lights rise to induce the clubbers’ squints, and rising from the speakers is ‘The Idiots’, the last track of the night, and a perfect accompaniment to the meeting of lips (for those with partners) and eyes across the dancefloor (for those without). Shame its refrain is the less romance-inducing ‘drunk in the middle of a doughnut shop”.

Having dispatched that difficult second album with admirable panache, Republic Of Loose are gearing up for the festival season, most notably a Saturday night headline slot at Castlepalooza. Mick Pyro talks us through his outdoor survival guide.

Double A side single Translation/Break sounds completely different to any of the singles Republic of Loose have released previously. With its thumping beat, 'Translation' will have you hooked. And how could you resist Mick Pyro’s persistant refrain “You like it rough, right?” on 'Break'? Always the charmer.

Once again, Mick Pyro and co have created a song which sounds a million miles from anything we might have anticipated.
It’s as if they heard some old funk records, and decided to recreate them – but using gratuitous swear words and as many random instruments as they could carry.
It’s a rather bizarre lead track from the Dubliners’ second album – crazy, but oddly impressive.

Having made a decent enough dent in the Irish top 30 with their ‘Shame’ single, Republic Of Loose are currently putting the finishing touches to their as-yet-untitled new album, which hits the racks on April 4.

The way in which ‘Comeback Girl’ ram-raided its way into the mainstream was one of the most satisfactory moments of the year, further proof that domestic bands are more than capable of holding their own in the world of play-lists, pluggers and record company muscle. Sadly, it seems that ROL themselves were so satisfied with its success that they forgot to put any effort into the follow up. ‘You Know It’ is essentially ‘Comeback Girl’ mark two, without any of the spark or originality. All that’s left is a dull r&b track and there’s plenty of those about already. We need them to be better than this.

When not touring with Republic Of Loose, Mick pyro is free to kick back in his basement pad in a 1960s Swedish-style Terenure house, where he indulges his love of CDs, books and movies – and ponders the aesthetic similarities between Shakespeare and hip hop.

Having made friends and influenced all sorts of people in recent months (including the likes of Gary Lightbody, Bob Dylan and Shane McGowan), the Republic of Loose have just announced an Irish mini-tour.

They’re different, they’re fun, they have their critics but more and more people seem to love them. But enough about the trams; it’s all aboard for an interview with another Dublin
sensation Republic of Loose.

This Is The Tomb of The Juice is Michael Pyro & co.’s first album, and it’s a ballsy, gritty collection of songs, the kind of record that announces the summer, oscillating between aggressive Alabama 3 rantings and über-cool James Brown blues funk.

Republic Of Loose vocalist Mick Pyro is standing at the front of the stage in Whelan’s, leaning precariously to the left. Sporting a ‘Suck me suck me eat me raw’ T Shirt and a barnet that hasn’t been washed or cut since 1996, he clutches the mic like it possesses some great gravitational power before declaring, “I knew I shouldn’t have drank before this gig”.

Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘Girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.

Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.

Radio has studiously ignored it but that doesn’t mean that Republic Of Loose’s ‘Girl i’m gonna fuck you up’ isn’t the best Irish single of the year. Tanya Sweeney meets the Dublin boys who just want to have fun.